A STUDY ON THE VARIOUS FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION IN HARPER LEE S TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD

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INTRODUCTION
This dissertation focuses on various kinds of discrimination in Harper Lee‟s To Kill a
Mockingbird. The aim of the research is to bring out the various kinds of discrimination faced by
the people in American society. It helps to understand the current situation of African American
people living in America.
America is a melting pot consisting of different races, classes, ethnic groups, and people
from various nations and so on. It is a settler‟s nation. Europeans have made an expedition and
found this new land and they have named it as New Found Land. In 1492, Christopher Columbus
found this new land and it led to the arrival of settlers from various countries. Colonization
started to emerge slowly in that period of time. During colonization, Spain, France, and Britain
formed their colonies in America. Spanish and French built their settlements along the beds of
Mississippi river. After 1600, more colonies were formed. In 1607, English settlement was
established. The first English colony was established in the banks of river James in Virginia and
it was called as James town. In 1620, puritans arrived in Mayflower to Plymouth and found their
colonies.
America was rich in its wealth and had vast fertile land. European settlers had taken away
the lands of the natives and started to build their agricultural lands. The English settlers could not
withstand the harsh climatic conditions of America. Because of the bad condition they died in
large numbers. There was a shortage of farm workers to do agriculture. So, English colonial
rulers started to buy slaves from the colonial nation such as West Africa. Tobacco and rice
production led to importing African slaves for labours from West Indies. Slave trade flourished
in 17th
and 18th
Century and slavery was an economic, social and cultural benefit to all White

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people. The first African slaves arrived via Santo Domingo to the San Miguel de Gauldape
colony, which was founded by Spanish explorer Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon in 1526. The first
recorded Africans in British North America were 20 odd Negros, who came to James Town,
Virginia via Cape Comfort in August 1619 as indentured workers.
The slave history started in the 16th
Century with people from West Africa, who were
forcibly taken to Spanish America and in 17th
Century, to English colonies in North America. By
1770‟s, the American war of independence started. Thirteen British colonies started to rebel
against British rule in 1775 and they proclaimed their Independence in 1776. After the
Independence, Americans underwent a lot of changes but slaves remained as slaves under the
Whites.
In 1861, civil war broke out in America and it led to Emancipation proclamation in 1863
which was signed by the then president Abraham Lincoln. It freed black people from slavery.
The slaves were liberated after the civil war in 1865. The slaves formed the third largest ethnic
group in the United States. They were referred as African-Americans or Black Americans. They
are the ethnic group with total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa.
The Emancipation Proclamation changed the federal legal status of more than 3 million
people being enslaved in the designated area of South America from slave to Freeman. But still,
they were considered as second-class citizens in America because of White supremacy. They
were treated mean and they were subjugated in all aspects of life. The rights were denied for
every African-American. They were differentiated by their colour. Racial prejudice became more
in the minds of the white community. Abraham Joshua Heschel, Jewish Philosopher and

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Theologian say, “Racism is man‟s gravest threat to man- the maximum of hatred for a minimum
reason” (web).
The life of black people and their sufferings started to reflect in the writings of American
writers. In 18th
and 19th
century, writers started to write about slavery. Writers such as Phillis
Wheatley and Fredrick Douglas wrote about their own experience in America. The Black
literature started emerging slowly as a voice of voiceless Black Americans.
First, the American writers started to write about African Americans. But those writings
were self-centered and biased. The Blacks were considered as „others‟ in their writings. Later
African Americans wrote about their own sufferings. These writings reached a high point with
authors such as Harlem Renaissance and continue even today with Toni Morrison, Maya
Angelou, Walter Mosley, and the list went on. Their writing focused on series of issues faced by
black people in a White supremacy country. Their writings carried out the themes of Slavery,
Racism, Alienation, Isolation, Survival of the Fittest, Loss of Innocence, Identity Crisis,
American dreams and so on. They also wrote about their own culture and started raising voice
for their equality through their writings. Slave narratives emerged as a new genre of American
literature. The primary focus was on slavery and the sufferings faced by the slaves. Today those
writings are accepted as an integral part of American literature.
Toni Morrison has dealt with the themes of violence, oppression, and sacrifice in her
novels like The Bluest Eye (1970), Song of Solomon (1977), Sula (1980), and Beloved (1987).
The conflicts between the Black and the White communities, the victimization of the Blacks by
the dominant Whites, the violence, and bloodshed within the Black communities have been
presented in Toni Morrison‟s novels.

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Nelle Harper Lee is one of the American Novelist who has written about the Blacks and
how they are discriminated in her first novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). Lee draws upon her
childhood experiences as the daughter of a Southern lawyer to portray the moral awakening of
two children in Maycomb, Alabama during 1930‟s in her novel.
Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama, to Amasa
Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee. She was the youngest of the 4 children.
Amasa Coleman Lee, a lawyer in that town, served as her model for the character of Atticus
Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Information about Lee‟s childhood is very less because she
wanted to keep privacy with her personal life. Lee attended Huntingdon College, a private school
for women in Montgomery, Alabama, from 1944 to 1945. She then transferred to the University
of Alabama, which she attended from 1945 to 1950. While a student at Alabama, Lee contributed
to several student publications, including the humour magazine Rammer-Jammer. In 1947, she
enrolled at the University of Alabama, School of Law. Harper Lee travelled to England as an
exchange student to the Oxford University. She left the University of Alabama six months before
completing her law degree, although she later was awarded an honorary degree by that
institution. She got interested in literature in her school days; especially the English classes
inspired her very much. She was fond of British Novelist Jane Austen and she was greatly
influenced by her writing.
Lee moved to New York City in 1950 and worked for several years as a Reservations
Clerk for Eastern Air Lines and British Overseas Airways. When friends offered to loan her
enough money to write full-time for a year, she quit her job and penned the first draft of To Kill a
Mockingbird. In 1957, she submitted the manuscript to a publishing house and began a two-year
process of revision.

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Shortly after Lee finished the first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, Truman Capote invited
her to accompany him to Garden City, Kansas, in order to provide research for a non-fiction
book involving the murder of a farm family. Lee and Capote traced their friendship back to 1928
when Capote moved to Monroeville to live with his aunts, who were the next-door-neighbors of
the Lee‟s. She spent three years from 1957 to 1959 to revise the manuscript of the novel to make
it cohesive because the story was too scattered when she submitted it to one of the publishers.
Finally, it got published in 1960.
The novel covers span of three year in the life of a young girl named Jean Louie Finch
(also called as Scout), who is six years old when the novel begins. She is the narrator of the
novel. The main plot revolves around Atticus Finch, Scout‟s father, a lawyer who is attempting
to defend a black man accused of rape. Her second novel Go Set a Watchman was published in
2015. It is considered as a sequel to her first novel. Go Set a Watchman features many of the
characters from To Kill a Mockingbird after twenty years. Returning home to Maycomb to visit
her father, Jean Louise Finch, who is twenty six years old now, struggles with issues both
personal and political, involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town that shaped her.
Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel To Kill a Mockingbird in 1961. The same year,
she also received the Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
And she won many awards like Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 and National Medal of
Arts in 2010. "I never expected that the book would sell," said Harper Lee in a 1964 radio
interview, "I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of the reviewers. But I was
hoping that maybe somebody might like it well enough to give me some encouragement about it"
(web). Harper Lee died on 19 February 2016 at the age of 90.

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To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the small rural town called Maycomb, Alabama around
1930‟s. The major character is Atticus Finch, father of Jean Louise Finch (Scout). He is a
statesman and a lawyer, who is appointed to defend an African- American, called Tom
Robinson. Scout and her brother Jem Finch are raised by their father and by Calpurnia, an
African-American house-keeper, who works for Atticus family. Jem and Scout befriend with Dill
Harris who comes to visit his Aunt Rachel during the summer vacation. Together with Dill,
Scout and Jem try to seek the attention of Boo Radley (Arthur Radley), who is confined to his
house. There are lots of rumours about Boo Radley that he appears only at night and Jem
described Boo Radley in his own imagination. Atticus teaches certain fundamental values to Jem
and Scout, when they tried to interfere in Radley‟s personal life. It is their own fascination to
know about Boo Radley that makes them try again and again in all possible way to reach out
Boo.
Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to Sunday church near her house. She acts as a bridge to
the black community. Atticus expresses that they cannot run a single day without Calpurnia. Her
importance, even though she belongs to the black community, is shown here. Meanwhile, Uncle
Jack presents a gun to Jem and Scout for shooting during Christmas. Atticus tells Jem, killing a
mockingbird is a sin. Atticus says to Jem and Scout, “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can
hit „em, but remember it is sin to kill a mockingbird” (99). Lee compares vulnerable human
beings with weak mockingbird.
Atticus is appointed as defence attorney for Tom Robinson, African –American, who is
accused of sexually assaulted Mayella Ewell, daughter of Bob Ewell. Atticus‟s defence of Tom
is disliked by people. Scout and Jem are taunted by their fellow mates in school due to their
father‟s defence of a black man. Scout starts to fight with those who call her father as nigger

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lover. Atticus tries to instill moral values in his children‟s mind by explaining everything and he
hopes that it will counteract with the influence of social prejudices. Atticus proves Tom
Robinson‟s innocence in the trial despite Mayella and her father testimony, that Tom Robinson
has sexually assaulted Mayella. Atticus demonstrates Mayella is beaten by her father Bob Ewell
who is left handed and her right side of the face is bruised. Tom Robinson‟s left hand had been
rendered completely useless by an earlier injury. So, Atticus concludes that Tom Robinson is not
the one who assaulted Mayella Ewell and suggests that it was Bob Ewell. The Jury comes up
with a verdict finding Tom Robinson guilty of molestation despite him being innocent. The
verdict upsets Jem, who watched the entire trial with Scout and Dill in court. Later, Tom tries to
escape from prison during which he is shot dead.
Bob Ewell tries to attack Jem and Scout after his true nature has been revealed in the
society. Boo Radley intervenes in it and saves Scout and Jem. Bob Ewell is killed in the process.
The sheriff and Atticus decide not to report Boo‟s involvement in Bob Ewell‟s death to the
police because they know that the trial against him would be prejudiced like Tom Robinson‟s.
Scout realizes that Boo is not a threatening figure. There are other characters like Aunt
Alexandra, sister of Atticus, Heck Tate- the sheriff, Stephanie Crawford, Radley‟s family, Miss
Maudie Atkinson, Mrs Dubose and so on.
The novel deals with the discrimination faced by various characters like Tom Robinson,
who is discriminated based on his colour and race, Boo Radley, Mayella, who are discriminated
psychologically, and Cunningham and Ewell, who are discriminated based on their class and
economic condition. The prejudices and stereotypical mindset of people lead to discriminate
certain set of people. Cambridge English dictionary defines discrimination as “treating a person

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or particular group of people differently, especially in a worse way from the way in which you
treat other people because of their skin colour, sex, economic condition, etc.” (web).
Anthropologically, a race is defined as a group of human beings who share some
distinctive characteristic like colour, physical appearance, genetics, ancestry, and have same food
habits and follow certain culture and traditions and are from the same civilization. They are from
distinctive groups and live in a certain geographical location in the world. Some of the races are
Mongolians, Aryans, Africans, Dravidians, Mayans, Indians and so on. In the olden days, Race
was defined by anthropological traits. But now it has changed into a social construct.
There are various kinds of discrimination prevailing in this society. People are
discriminated on the basis of their gender, sexual orientation and it happens in workplace and
immigrants are discriminated. Discrimination happens when the powerful exercise their power
over the weaker section of the society. All are considered as equal but treated differently. They
are compelled to live in a separate location which is away from the town, a place with poor
facilities and sanitation. Blacks were demeaned in the society in every aspect of their life. They
have separate public restrooms, drinking fountains and forced to travel in the back of the buses.
Before the 1930‟s there was no single high school for blacks. The Great Depression during
1930‟s led to merging the separate schools for Blacks and Whites into one. But still, the Black
children were treated unequally. The discrimination affects the human psyche in all possible
ways. It drops them in psychological trauma and isolates them from the masses. It leads to the
tragic end of some people. Those who are discriminated psychologically seek the attention of
others while some of them remain a part of their routine life.

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The impact of Great Depression is reflected in the novel as well. The novel was set in
1930‟s but the condition improved in 1960s when the novel was published. It was due to the
Civil Right Movement which took place in 1950s in America. The famous 1954 United States
Supreme Court trial of Brown V. the Board of Education Topeka, Kansas declared the practice
of segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and quickly led to desegregation of other
public institution. Before that the judicial system was discriminatory in nature. Blacks were
excluded from the juries and could be arrested, tried and even convicted with little cases. The
same thing was clearly explained in the novel that all the juries in the court during Tom
Robinson‟s trial were Whites. It is a very well-known fact that, a White man decides in favour of
White man, not in favour of a Black man. In the novel To Kill a Mocking bird, Reverend Sykes,
one of the characters says, “I ain‟t ever seen any jury decide in favour of a coloured man over a
Whiteman…” (230).
To Kill a Mockingbird is a regional novel. Like Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy, who
confined their setting of the novel within the places of district of Barth and Wessex respectively,
Harper Lee sticks to Maycomb, Alabama. Harper Lee explains the status of judicial system and
the practice of law in Alabama, explicitly in the novel. The novel has received strong criticism it
for the fundamental values put forth. It has been criticized for promoting a White‟s sympathetic
attitude towards African-American community. It is not something she has expressed as a second
hand experience but a firsthand one. Harper Lee experienced that kind of unjust trial in her life
while her father practiced as lawyer. Maycomb in Alabama is a microcosm. The novel is semi-
autobiographical in nature. R.A. Dave, in his essay “To Kill a Mockingbird: Harper Lee‟s tragic
vision” Points out,

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To Kill a Mockingbird is autobiographical in nature, not merely in needs mode of
expression but also in quite a personal sense. If David Copperfield is Charles
Dickens and Stephen Dedalus in a Portrait Artist as a Young Man is James Joyce,
Jean Louise Finch (Scout) unmistakably Harper Lee. (38)
The past, the present, and the future are clearly balanced in the novel. Lee projects herself
as Scout in the novel in present and narrates the past events. This kind of narration makes the
readers to wonder how the writer‟s retrospect will lead her on to the future, which remains a
mystery when we read the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel raises a constant question in
the minds of the readers whether it is critical of racism or is it propagates racism itself?

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RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
To Kill a Mockingbird expresses the theme of racism more symbolically than directly.
The main event focuses on racial discrimination in Tom Robinson‟s trial. There are other things
which symbolically represent the problem of racial discrimination in the novel. Harper Lee uses
symbolism as a tool to convey the theme „racism‟ and through her profound language she makes
it successful.
Human beings have their own prejudice and that leads to discriminate people.
Discrimination starts from people who are stronger in power and wealth. They in turn subjugate
the weaker section of the society. Superiority holds the upper hand and makes other people feel
inferior to them. The whites make the black inferior to them; the rich make the poor inferior to
them; male make female inferior to them. Till the weaker section realize their state and rebel
against the oppressor, they are destined to live the life of oppressed without enjoying any sort of
benefits and freedom under someone as a slave. People start to take care of their own self by
neglecting the other weaker section of the society. The process of „other-ing‟ takes place in the
society and leads to inequality. The general notion is that people are created equally. Actually,
they are not created equally. Some people are smarter than others; some make more money than
others. People look different in their complexion, physical appearance etc., then how can it be
concluded that all are created equally?
The idea of „other‟ and the process of „other-ing‟ are very much obvious in the novel To
Kill a Mockingbird. Blacks are considered as „other‟. They are allowed to live in separate
settlements and they are allowed only to pray in their own churches. Boo Radley and Tom
Robinson are included in the process of „other-ing‟. Boo Radley is separated from normal

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people and put under house arrest in the basement for having contact with Cunningham. He is
treated differently by his own parents. He does not have any contact with the outside world for
nearly fifteen years. The same happens in the case of Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell. Mayella
tries to seduce Tom Robinson (as it is in Tom‟s argument, in the trial) and Bob Ewell does not
accept the idea of white having a relationship with blacks. The Black-White sexual relationship
is considered as taboo in American society. Eventually Mayella is socially ostracised and
outcasted. Boo Radley is outcasted from his neighborhood and Tom Robinson from the society.
The idea of „other-ing‟ of Atticus‟ children is expressed by Harper Lee in the depiction of
Calpurnia, who took Jem and Scout to coloured people‟s church where they got positive and
welcoming reception. The black have their own separate church. Nearly one thirty Negroes go
for worship on Sundays and on other days it is a place for white men to gamble. The place which
is considered as sacred for blacks has been used by whites for their pleasure and enjoyment. In
most of the places the blacks represent themselves as blacks, especially within their community.
It is clearly expressed through the character Calpurnia. Calpurnia leads a double role. With
blacks, she leads the life of blacks and in Atticus‟ house she leads the life which is in accordance
with whites.
When Jem and Scout entered into the black people‟s church they are blocked by the
blacks and then they are allowed to enter the church. It shows that blacks do not deny the entry
of whites where as whites deny blacks entry into their church. The White community of
Maycomb is undoubtedly racist and it is expressed in their day today activities. Race is
undoubtedly one of the elements which distinguish characters in the novel, and it is one of the
social elements through which the residents of Maycomb identify themselves and others. Race is
a tool for people to differentiate one from the other. It alienates and differentiates blacks from

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whites. Every white man has a black servant yet they hate blacks. They need blacks to serve
them, to cook their foods, wash their clothes. But they consider blacks as untouchables and as an
outsider. The exception in the novel is Atticus, who respects black and his servant Calpurnia and
treats them as fellow human beings.
Atticus, who carries a great deal of moral weight in the novel, is one of the few white
males in Maycomb who opposes the racist logic of the novel‟s social milieu. Atticus takes his
stand on defending Tom Robinson, who is accused of molesting Mayella. Because of Atticus‟
stand, he faces several criticisms from within the family and outside the family. People consider
Atticus as mean and they call him as “Nigger Lover”. The term is used in an offensive way.
Nigger lover is a term which people use to call someone, who favours a Negro. People use this
ugly term to label someone who has social contact with Negroes. The word “Nigger Lover”
influences the young minds in the novel, who do not even know what it means. Scouts‟
schoolmate Cecil Jacobs says, “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an‟ that Nigger oughta
hang from the water tank!”(85). It is very much clear that racism is preoccupied in each and
every mind in the Maycomb County. Cecil Jacobs is a school going boy. The idea of racism
poisoned his mind. He is influenced by his parents, fellow mates, and society in all aspects.
Racist attitude spreads like a deadly disease in Maycomb County. Atticus wants to protect Jem
and Scout from that deadly disease and he incorporates the moral values in them to protect them
from the racist prejudice.
Harper Lee expresses the racial discrimination through symbolism. Mockingbird is one of
the major symbols used by Lee and the book is named after that. Mockingbird is considered as
an innocent bird which does not harm any other birds, animals or human beings. Mockingbirds

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only sing other birds songs. It will not sing its own song. It is characterized only by other bird‟s
song.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, most of the characters know Boo Radley and Tom
Robinson by what other characters say about them. They do not have any direct experience them.
Everything about Boo Radley and Tom Robinson is gossiped by others, especially by Miss.
Stephanie Crawford in the novel. There is no truth in others gossip about a person, if it is not
experienced directly. Because of gossip, people start to have a negative idea about Boo Radley
and Tom Robinson. They become victims of this racist society for the mistakes they have not
committed. The Mockingbird symbolises Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. At the same time
Harper Lee compares whites with Blue Jays. They are violent, obnoxious and restricted to certain
geographical location. They bully other birds which enter into their territory. Blue jays are called
as prejudiced bullies. For that reason, Atticus tells Jem and Scout to shoot all the blue jays if they
want to, not the Mockingbirds.
Tom Robinson is a reflection of society on the whole. Many people are there in the
society without their own voices. Tom Robinson is one among them. Atticus represents Tom
Robinson‟s voice in the society. Yet, the voice of Tom Robinson fails to echo in the ears of white
community. In the trial he proves his innocence through Atticus‟ argument but he gets convicted
and he is killed at the end.
Tom Robinson represents the whole black community in the novel. What happens to Tom
Robinson in the novel is a real life experience for many black people in American society in
twentieth century. Tom Robinson is accused of molesting Mayella. Atticus raises a question in
the trial, whether the medical examination has been done to Mayella Ewell or not? But no one in

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the court is ready to listen to Atticus. They are not ready to examine Mayella medically whether
she is molested or not. There is no physical evidence against Tom Robinson except Mayella‟s
right eye is blackened. The only witness is Mayella‟s father, Bob Ewell. Though Attics proves
through his cross examination that it is a fake accusation against a black man, the judge finds
Tom Robinson guilty and sentences him. It shows how the judiciary system has worked in Lee‟s
period and how they were biased. In the novel, the juries are not even ready to analyse what has
really happened. It is very hard for a black man to defend himself against a white man. English
Chief Justice Lord Mathew Hale says, “Rape was considered a charge easily to be made and hard
to be proved, and harder to be defended by the party accused, tho‟ never so innocent” (96). It
becomes true in Tom Robinson‟s life.
Tom Robinson‟s verdict of guilt is a demonstration of lack of social justice for a black
man in American society. Justice is a more difficult thing to come by to blacks in certain parts of
United States. Tom Robinson is convicted not because he molested Mayella Ewell, but because
of his race. It is Bob Ewell‟s racial prejudice and jury‟s biased verdict which has convicted Tom
Robinson.
Tom Robinson faces his death at the end. He is killed mercilessly in the prison when he
tries to escape. There are totally seventeen bullet holes in his body. The cruel attitude of the
whites is very much obvious through this incident. A person can be killed by one or two bullets.
But in Tom Robinson‟s case they used seventeen bullets to kill him. He is shot dead like a mad
dog without any mercy. African community is broadly passive and dependent on the aid of
compassionate whites. Atticus shows compassion to Tom Robinson and agrees to defend him.
Atticus risks his social standing, professional reputation and his physical safety in order to

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defend a poor black labour who has been accused falsely. Tom Robinson is scapegoated in the
process.
Atticus very well knows what will happen in the trial. There is an evil assumption in
every white man‟s mind. Atticus senses it very well because all the members of the jury are
white men. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus says,
You gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption – the evil
assumption – that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings
that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, and assumption one
associated with minds of their caliber. (225)
These are the words of Atticus during the final argument. The closing speech of Atticus
in the court is the central set piece in the novel and in its treatment of racism. Atticus reveals the
inner mind of every white people through his words. After his failure in defending Tom
Robinson, Atticus loses his faith in the judicial system of Maycomb and he expresses his
disillusionment in the case of Boo Radley when Bob Ewell is killed by Boo Radley and decides
not to reveal the truth.
Harper Lee has arranged the details of the rape case as clearly as possible without any
flaw. Tom Robinson is very well aware of the danger of his presence in Mayella‟s house. He
makes all effort to evade Mayella when she kisses him and blocks his way out. Tom becomes an
accidental victim in the hands of Bob Ewell.
Lee symbolises the social prejudice through various events in the novel. The one is the
mad dog. The mad dog, Tim Johnson is an old dog of Mr. Harry Johnson. It comes to the streets

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of Maycomb County. The dog is diseased. When Jem and Scout are playing in the street they
encounter the dog and inform Calpurnia. Calpurnia alerts the neighbours and calls Atticus to
inform about the situation. Atticus arrives with sheriff Heck Tate and kills that rabid dog with his
gun. Rabid dog symbolises the menace of racism in the novel. The killing of rabid dog has been
considered by many critics as a representation of Atticus‟ skills as an attorney in targeting the
social prejudice in the Maycomb County. Atticus is considered as a saviour of black people. The
dog represents the evil racial prejudice and killing of it represents how Atticus defends Tom
Robinson in the trial. So far Jem and Scout consider him a bookish and not a normal father who
does not play with his children. But Killing of mad dog and defending Tom Robinson makes Jem
and Scout understand what kind of father Atticus is. Jem realises that Atticus is a gentleman.
The other symbol is Jem‟s snowman. On a snowy evening, Jem plans to make a
snowman. He collects snow from his backyard and from Miss. Maudie‟s backyard. But he does
not have enough snow to make a snowman. So he makes a snowman with mud and covers it with
the snow which he and scout have collected. On the same day Miss. Maudie‟s house was on fire
and in that heat, the snow melts down and reveals the mud. Covering the mud with snow
represents blacks and whites as same. Covering black over white projects the idea that all are
virtually the same. But the prejudice prevailing in the society uncovers the black again and
proves that black and white are not the same. This symbolism attacks the racial prejudice in the
novel. This incident reveals two things, one is black and white are not the same and at the same
time mixing of different races, that is marriage or sexual relationship between blacks and whites
are not possible in that society. The understanding of colour should be just skin deep, has to
come to every human being.

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Lee gives an example for mixing of Black-White races in the novel. One of the characters
in the novel, Mr. Dolphus Raymond marries a coloured woman. Raymond is Whiteman. He is
ostracised by the white community because of his relationship with the black woman. Marrying a
black woman or man was not acceptable in the white community. Raymond breaks the
stereotype through his marriage, but the reaction he faces from the society is very painful. His
children are mixed children. They are called as mulattos. In the novel, Scout asks Jem about the
mixed child and Jem replies scout and explains the real status of mulattos in the society. Jem
says, “They don‟t belong anywhere. Colored folks won‟t have „em because they are half white;
white folks won‟t have „em „cause they‟re colored, so they‟re just in betweens, don‟t belong
anywhere. But Mr Dolphus, now they say he‟s shipped two of his up north” (177-178).
There is a rejection for a mixed child in the society. They have a question where do they
belong to? Whether they belong to the black or the white? They search for their roots very often
and finally they are rejected by both blacks and whites. They fail to fit in both the world of
whites and the world of blacks. They are neither completely black nor white.
Mr. Dolphus Raymond is affected by the racial prejudice of Maycomb country. People
prejudice him as a drunkard. He likes to drink Coca-Cola every time because he likes the smell
of the drink very much. People consider it as alcohol (whisky) and spread rumor all over the
town that Raymond is an alcoholic and hides the drink in Coca-Cola bottle. But the reality is
revealed by himself to Scout and Dill when Dill felt giddy in the court during the trial. Mr.
Raymond says, “I live like I do because that‟s the way I want to live” (221). Mr. Raymond does
not care about what others think of him. He lives his life in a way he wants to live. He is not
ready to sacrifice his own happiness for the sake of other people‟s judgment.

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In a way, the novel projects the idea that it supports racism. The representation of red
geraniums in Mayella‟s house and the fence that protects it in the front yard symbolises the
„womanhood‟ of Maycomb County. The yard surrounded by fence contains a flower which is
safe inside it. The fence represents the fear and racial atrocities of southern whites that tries to
protect the womanhood from the black people. It clearly indicates the idea that blacks threaten
the sexual life of a white woman. It projects an idea that white women have to be protected from
hands of black men.
On one hand Harper Lee expresses the fear of whites about blacks and on the other hand
she expresses the fear of Black man through Tom Robinson. At the end of the trial, Tom says to
Atticus, “Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you‟d be scared, too” (215). Everyday Blacks
lead a life of fear and sufferings. They do not know from where the problem arises for them,
without doing any wrong they earned the wrath of white people.
The idea of racism corrupts the whole community like how a nut-grass ruins a whole
yard. One pinch of extra salt is enough to spoil the dish. An idea of racism in one person is
enough to influence the whole community. That is what really happened in the whole world.
Blacks are branded as bad, violent, and aggressive. There are other few characters in the novel
who recognizes the injustice against the blacks. One among them is Miss Maudie Atkinson,
neighbour to Atticus and shares the same passion for justice in the novel. She is very open
minded and helps Scout and Jem to understand the community better without any prejudice.
Blacks are treated inhumanly. Not only Tom but other Blacks are treated violently. Mr.
Radley shot a Negro in his collard patch. Many blacks feared to cross Mr Radley‟s front yard.
Lee uses the racial language in her writings to express how cruel racism is in her period. The

22
usage of words like „Nigger-lover‟, „Black nigger ruttin‟ on my Mayella‟ shows blacks are
treated like animals and they are compared with a beast, a threatening creature to human beings.
Lee‟s usage of symbolism to bring out racism makes the novel rich and pertinent.
Jews are hated by Germans for no reason and Hitler has committed genocide in the
Twentieth century to wipe out that entire race. The same has happened in America and Blacks
are killed for no reasons except for that they are blacks. Jews and Blacks experience the same life
of suffering and fear in the hands of Hitler and Americans respectively. It is still a mystery that
why Hitler hated Jews. It is a mystery in the novel that why the Juries execute Tom Robinson,
though Atticus proves through his arguments that Tom Robinson did not commit any crime
against Mayella.
Harper Lee strongly states, “When it‟s a white man‟s word against a black man‟s, the
white man always wins” (243), through the character Atticus in the novel. These words echo the
reality of Black man‟s life. They want to live a peaceful life in the society. They come to this
world like any other person who comes with desires and expectations. But their desires are
broken into pieces. They are not allowed to expect anything from the society except a bad name.
They are segregated. They face trouble from all directions.
White community starts using all the weakness of Blacks and exploits them to the core
both physically and sexually. Black women are molested by white masters and some of them are
killed during molestation. Blacks will not raise their voice against Whites because they consider
themselves as weak. But the truth is vice versa. Blacks are stronger than whites physically and
mentally. Without black community, there would not be a tremendous growth in America within

23
a short span of time in all aspects. Racism is one of the greatest threats to human world, the
maximum hatred for a minimum reason. The reason is nothing but the colour of the people.
In Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan paton says,
“I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white man and black
men…desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it…I
have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they
will find we are turned to hating.” (162)
Treating people differently will not make any change in the world. Both races have to
come together to make changes. Treating people differently lead to destruction and it increases
the gap between human relationships.
Throughout the novel, Harper Lee takes a stand against racism and racial prejudices.
Through various characters in the novel she opposes racism, strongly through Atticus. But there
is a strong criticism against Atticus that he has never attempted to change anything. He has
accepted to defend Tom Robinson out of compulsion, without any way to out of it. Monroe
Freedman, a professor of law and the former dean of Hofstra law school argues, “Finch never
attempts to change the racism and sexism that permeates the life of Maycomb…. On the
contrary, he lives his own life as the passive participants in the pervasive injustice” (473). But it
is not true. Atticus is more conscious that the racist attitude should not influence his children.
Then how can it be concluded that he has never attempted to change anything? He has a good
rapport with the black community and treated his maid Calpurnia respectfully.

24
Atticus is a loving, patient and understanding father. In his personal life, he has treated
both the blacks and whites in the same way without showing any differences. He respects every
human soul irrespective of their colour. Freedman‟s view of Atticus is not acceptable. It may be
his personal stand and his opinion on the character. The idea of right or wrong is different for
different people. What Atticus has done is right for him but for other white people in the
community, it is wrong. The good and bad are defined by individuals and by their experience. It
is their personal choice and opinion.
“Racism is like sexism; if you‟re not on the receiving end you simply don‟t see it”, says
The Guardian (Web). Only people who experience it knows the real pain it causes to them. They
have difficulty to express their own sufferings to the world because there is no one to listen to
their problems because everyone seems like a creator of the problem.

26
CLASS DISCRIMINATION
To Kill a Mockingbird is built upon the issue of class discrimination. Class discrimination
or classism is built upon the social class. The social class is divided based on their economic
status, income, luxury, education, job, and on other factors. Class discrimination is not only
prevalent in America but also all over the world. It is prevailing in every other human society. In
each and every country the classism varies. Class discrimination incorporates the individual
attitude, behaviourism, system of policies, practices that are formed to benefit the upper class at
the expense of lower class and vice versa.
Many sociologists suggest five different types of social classes in America. They are
upper class-Elite, upper middle class, lower middle class, working class, and poor (web). It is
purely based on resource, power, authority, possession of wealth and so on. The social class is
divided based on their occupation. In India, the social inequality is elaborately constructed based
on Varna system (web). On the basis of Varna system, people are divided into four major
categories. Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras. It is divided based on occupation. One
holds the responsibility of providing education, one holds the responsibility of protecting people,
and the third indulge in trade activities and the fourth, artisans and servants. This division is
clearly marked in age old Rig Veda, the sacred text of Hindus. In modern days, it is still followed
as caste system in Indian subcontinent. One is considered as superior and other is considered as
inferior to them. And this tradition is followed even after hundreds and thousands of years. In the
Vedic period, the Varna system is considered as functional groups. But now it has become a
social class and based on this people are divided and discriminated. Status difference is

27
prevailing in every religion and community all over the world. Even people from same group are
discriminated based on their economic status.
Karl Marx divides people into two classes: the capitalists and the working class. The
class difference or any other difference is imposed by the one who is in authority. The other who
is inferior to them, have no other choice to make. The capitalist plunder the resources of one
section of the society. Maxim Gorky, a Russian writer, reflects these difference and exploitation.
In his novel Mother, one of the characters, Rybin says,
When they tear a workingman‟s hand in a machine or kill him, you can
understand – the workingman himself at fault. But in a case like this, when they
suck a man‟s blood out of him and throw him away like a carcass – that can‟t be
explained in any way. I can comprehend every murder; but torturing for mere
sport I can‟t comprehend. And why do they torture the people? To what purpose
do they torture us all? For fun, for mere amusement, so that they can live
pleasantly on the earth; so that they can buy everything with the blood of the
people, a prime donna, horses, silver knives, golden dishes, expensive toys for
their children. You work, work, work, work more and more, and I‟ll hoard money
by your labor and give my mistress a golden wash basin. (225)
One section of the society uses the vulnerable man‟s power and later leaves them in a
void. This is what exactly is happening between the white and the black. Whites enjoy the
service of black labourers and get benefit out of them. But not everyone helps them for their
betterment and growth except in certain cases.

28
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee differentiates four types of social class.
They are of Cunningham, Ewell, Blacks and Whites. It is clearly expressed by one of the
characters in the novel. Jem says,
There‟s four kinds of folks in the world. There‟s the ordinary kind like us and the
neighbours, there‟s the kind like the Cunningham out in the woods, the kind like
the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes…The thing about it is, our kind of
folks don‟t like the Cunningham, the Cunningham don‟t like Ewells, and the
Ewells hate and despise the coloured folks. (249)
Even though Jem is a little boy, his words are true. Negroes are at the bottom of
Maycomb hierarchy based on their poverty and racism. The only thing which differentiates
Ewells from Blacks is their colour. Scout doesn‟t go with the idea of Jem that there are four
kinds of folks though she is confused with the system. In the novel, Scout says, “I think there‟s
just one kind of folks. Folks” (250). She echoes the word of Harper Lee. She wants to destroy
this social structure which differentiates people. Lee believed that there is no difference among
human beings. She focuses more on humanity rather than a material thing and the subsequent
social strata. She breaks the idea of classism and brings everyone into a single entity. It shows
how she wants the future generation to be.
It is obvious that people hate each other. The hatred is because of the social status, their
behaviours and so on. People do not consider other human beings as equal. They always consider
others as unequal. People respect each other only when they have wealth.

29
Harper Lee differentiates the economic condition of these four folks through the
description of their settlements. One of the good examples from the novel is the description of
Ewell‟s living condition. Lee describes as,
Maycomb‟s Ewells lived behind the town garbage‟s dump in what was once a
Negro cabin. The cabin‟s plank walls were supplemented with tin cans hammered
flat, so only, its general shape suggested its original design: square, with four tiny
rooms opening on to a shotgun hall, the cabin rested uneasily upon four irregular
lumps of limestone. Its windows in the summer time were covered with greasy
strips of cheese clothes to keep out the varmints that feasted on Maycomb‟s
refuse. (187-188)
On the contrary whites are living in a house which consists of porch, backyard, fence and
the houses are in the main residential street in Maycomb town. Though Ewells and Cunninghams
belong to the same white community, they are not treated equally with whites because of their
poor and filthy condition. They are isolated from the common people by making them live in
others part of the Maycomb county. This separation shows how the classism is deeply
entrenched in the mind of people of Alabama.
In Culture and Anarchy, Mathew Arnold envisions the world where all men live in
happiness. Arnold says, “Culture seeks to do away with classes; to make the best that has been
thought and known in the world current everywhere; to make all men live in an atmosphere of
sweetness and light” (web). It is the same that Harper Lee wants to achieve through Scout. In the
beginning of the novel Harper Lee portrays scout as innocent and because of that innocence she
behaves rudely with Walter Cunningham when he serves more soup in dinner. At that time no

30
one from her family corrects scout. It is Calpurnia who corrected scout how to behave with
Walter. It shows the White supremacy. It is Calpurnia who understands the status of Walter
Cunningham and corrected Scout. It may be Scout's innocence which has made her to act like
this. But it strongly reflects the social status of people. It is clearly stated by Calpurnia as,
“There‟s some folks who don‟t eat like us… but you ain‟t called on to contradict ‟em at the table
when they don‟t. that boy‟s yo‟ comp‟ny and if he wants to eat up the table-cloth you let him”
(27). It is Jem who invites Walter Cunningham to dinner, because he did not have any lunch to
eat in school and remained hungry. It shows the real status of Cunningham. Cunninghams are
farmers, country folks who solely depend on their farms. The great depression in America during
1930‟s hit them hard and affected them financially and it is reflected in their life. The farms have
failed them because of changes in the weather pattern. Its effects are clearly visible in the novel.
Scout explains the status of Cunningham to her teacher, Miss Caroline, in the school. She
says, “He didn‟t forget his lunch, he didn‟t have any” (22). Even Miss Caroline offers him
money to buy his food; Walter refuses to get the money from her. It shows Cunningham‟s self-
esteem and dependency on their production and hard work. They do not have any money instead
they have only goods and pulses to give someone. Even for Atticus, they paid with nuts and
turnip greens. Though Cunninghams are whites, they are called as poor Whites or white trash.
Like the Cunningham, there are many other students in the school. Little Chunk Little and Burris
Ewell are good example of that. They belong to lower economic strata of the society. They are
considered lower to Cunningham.
The major character that expresses class difference in To Kill a Mockingbird is Aunt
Alexandra. She is very class conscious and has limitations with other people. She is very
conscious of Maycomb‟s social mores and chooses to live within its constrictions. She spends

31
her time with aristocratic women around her neighbourhood. Often they have tea party and
gathering in Atticus‟ house. She wants Scout to be aware of the class differences. She does not
allow Scout to visit Calpurnia‟s house. She thinks that visiting a black‟s house is a disgrace to
her. It is because of Calpurnia‟s colour, race, economic status which restricts Alexandra to
socialise with her. She shows her hatred towards Calpurnia and wants to send her out of the
house. Alexandra restricts Scout to play with Walter Cunningham. She makes an offensive
statement to Scout. She says, “Because – he - is – trash, that‟s why you can‟t play with him. I‟ll
not have you around him, picking up his habits and learning Lord-knows-what. You‟re enough
of problem to your father as it is” (248). Elitism is very much obvious in Alexandra‟s speech and
in her every action. Through her attitude Harper Lee has expressed the difference between
Atticus and his sister Alexandra. It shows the differences between people within the same family.
The other vulnerable character in the novel is Mayella. She belongs to Ewell. She is a
victim of poverty. The entire Bob Ewell‟s family suffers from poverty. They are separated and
differentiated from the main stream white community because of their poor condition. They
depend on others for their survival in the society. They do not have proper education and job
which lags them behind in the society. They are considered as superior to Black people. Atticus
mentions the situation of Mayella as, “She is the victim of cruel poverty” (22). Like
Cunningham, Ewells are also considered as trash.
The appearance of Burris Ewell in the classroom in school scares the teacher. He has
cooties in his hair. He does not wash his hair properly. Compared to him other students in the
class are neat and tidy. Miss Caroline advices him to wash his hair with kerosene. It is not clear
whether he has any chance to get kerosene. If he has the ability, he will be clean and neat. But
the chances are very less for Burris. It differentiates him from other students. Ewells, including

32
Burris Ewell, appear for the class on the first day and they are marked absent for the rest of the
days. They do not turn up for school except the first day. They do not continue their education
properly. Their education is directly influenced by their economic condition. They sacrifice their
studies in order to work and earn their meal. It is not only the problem of Ewells and
Cunninghams instead it is the problem that the entire poor people face. They remain uneducated
and unemployed throughout their life time.
Ewell‟s social status is another thing for which whites hate them. In Social Contract, Jean
Jacques Rousseau pointed out the life in the „state of nature‟. State of nature is nothing but the
beginning of humanity in the woods. People lead a harmonious life with the company of nature
without any technological advancement and without any quarrel between each other. It was
happy and there was equality among men. For Rousseau the invention of property constitutes
humanity‟s „fall from grave‟ out of the state of nature. (Web) Though people are barbaric in
nature in the „state of nature‟ they lead a happy life. But now people have property and all other
technology. But they do not find happiness. They quarrel with each other by comparing their
wealth, status, power and so on. When the power, money increases in the hands of people, the
gap between one another also increases. The wealth is not shared equally to all people and it
creates an imbalance in the society. This imbalanced, unequal American society remains the
same even after fifty eight years of publication of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
As it is mentioned earlier, the class discrimination that prevails all over the world is
clearly expressed by the British Novelist Doris Lessing in her novel The Grass is Singing. In the
novel, Lessing portrays the unequal white society in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe. This novel also tells
about the period which Lee‟s To Kill a Mockingbird deals with. The novel talks about colonial
period of 1930‟s and 1940‟s. In the novel Lessing describes or divides the social class into four.

33
They are Afrikaners, poor whites, Britishers and native black people. The White – White hatred
is clearly portrayed in The Grass is Singing as in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The Grass is
Singing was published ten years before To Kill a Mockingbird. It was published in 1950 where as
To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960. Both of the novels touch the idea of racism and
class difference in a detailed manner.
In the novel, The Grass is singing, Dorris Lessing says,
There was no great money-cleavage in those days (that was before the era of the
tobacco barons), but there was certainly a race division. The small community of
Afrikaners had their own lives, and the Britishers ignored them. „Poor whites‟
were Afrikaners, never British. But the person who said Turners were poor whites
stuck to it defiantly… people would still not think of them as poor whites. To do
that would be letting the side down. The Turners were British, after all. (10-11)
In this novel, Dick Turner, a poor white farmer is considered as poor white. He is very
low in his status. The blacks in Rhodesia have better house than he has. The whites do not let
him down though he is poor, because he is a white man. They consider him as mean and
sometimes he is made to feel inferior to other whites. This is the same status of Cunninghams
and Ewells in To Kill a Mockingbird. The state of poverty among the blacks and whites is very
well portrayed in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird as well as in The Grass is singing.
Helen, wife of Tom Robinson, one of the characters in the novel finds it difficult to run
her life without money. The church collects money from the people and helps Helen to take care
of her needs and her children. Reverend Sykes insist every church goer in the black church to
give money for the welfare of Tom Robinson‟s family. It shows the generosity of human being.

34
It clearly explains the need to take care of others and that the society is formed to help each other
and support each and every one for the betterment of humanity.
On the one hand Harper Lee clearly portrays the class difference prevailing among the
white community and on the other hand she portrays the idea of sharing and the helping tendency
within the community without any differences. If you are not helping the needy within the
community, the community will not flourish. Everyone has the responsibility to take care of
his/her own society.
Mr Dolphus Raymond is a wealthy white man, but he is discriminated from the white
community. It is because of his marriage with a black woman. Even a person with all wealth is
not accepted in the white community. It shows that the class discrimination is not only based on
economy but it has some other madness. It takes people‟s race, background, education, their
attitude, and practices as a scale to measure their social class. Mr Raymond is discriminated
based on his action which is not acceptable in the white community.
The class difference is fully politicised for the betterment of a few. The white community
never tries to change the living standard of Ewell and Cunningham. Peter Barry, in his book
Beginning THEORY: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory explains the theory of
Marxism and says, “The exploitation of one social class by another is seen especially in modern
industrial capitalism, particularly in its unrestricted nineteenth century form. The result of this
exploitation is alienation” (151). For the growth of one, the other is exploited to the core. To
remain in power and authority, the superior makes the other to remain in the same socio-
economic state. They never allow the working class to grow.

36
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISCRIMINATION
Human mind is a complex unit. It has the capacity to hold back the memories and then
bring it back to light whenever it is needed, by remembering it. Each and every action affects
human mind or psyche and something holds back as a memory. Psyche is a totality of human
mind, which is divided into conscious and unconscious. Many psychologists try to understand
human mind. The actions we do and the dreams we get in our sleep are influenced by our mind,
our suppressed feelings, and emotions. Sigmund Freud divides human mind into three: the
conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.
Psychoanalysis is a field of psychological study or technique for the study of unconscious
human mind. In medical field, psychoanalysis helps to study the unconscious mind of a person
who is affected by neurosis. It helps as a therapy for people who are suffering from depression,
anxiety, mental breakdown and so on. In literature, psychoanalysis helps to study the psyche of
human mind and how it influences the writing. It helps to analyse the mind of the author in
which he/she has written the novel, the psychology of the characters portrayed in the novel and
the symbols used in the texts. It enables the readers to view the fictional character as a
psychological case study and to find out some Freudian concepts such as Oedipus complex, Id,
ego and super ego, and so on. It helps the readers to know more about the text which is presented
to them.
Psychoanalysis helps the readers to understand the sufferings of the characters portrayed
in the novel through their actions. Those characters may be the outcome of the suppressed
feelings of the author itself. Analysing the psychology of the characters helps to understand more
about their situation and give newer perspective for the readers. Psychoanalytical criticism seeks

37
the unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, guilt, ambivalence and so forth within what
may be a disunified literary work. The author‟s own childhood traumas, family life, sexual
conflicts, fixations and such will be traceable within the behaviours of the characters in the
literary work. The psychological elements are expressed in an indirect manner which is more
disguised or encoded by such principles called displacement, condensation, and symbolism.
(Web)
In To kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee expresses her childhood experience. As it is earlier
mentioned in this research, this novel is autobiographical in nature, Lee's suppressed emotions
and feelings are expressed in the novel through various characters, especially through Scout.
Scout is the embodiment of Harper Lee in the novel. This novel is a kind of recollection of Lee‟s
childhood memory and it is narrated in the same way by Scout. Scout recollects the memory of
her past three years of life and the major incidents which happen on those three years are
projected in the novel.
One can consider the historical source of Tom Robinson's trial and it is inspired from the
real life experience. Like Tom Robinson's trial many black Americans are wrongly accused and
received a guilty verdict. Lee was fascinated by the well-known Scottsboro trial that begins in
1931. The Scottsboro trial centered on eight young African American men accused of raping two
white women on a train from Tennessee to Alabama. The trial has started in 1931 and lasted only
for nine days. All the jury members are white men as it is in the case of Tom Robinson in the
novel. Lee might have encountered this trial in her childhood and it has created a long lasting
scar in her memory. She has carried that scar for very long time within her. To express that
cruelty of racism, Lee has used this trial in different form with some changes. It shows memory
makes on impact even after thirty years.

38
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee project Scout as a tomboy. It is also a reflection of
Harper Lee's real life. Another important thing is the character Dill. Dill is a representation of
Harper Lee's childhood friend Truman capote. Scout's Tomboyish attitude is because of the
influence of her father and her brother. She is brought up by her father with the assistance of the
maid Calpurnia. From the birth, scout is very much influenced by Atticus. But in the case of
Harper Lee it is different. She has brought up in her family with two sisters. But her behaviours
and activities are tomboyish. She does not get influenced by her sisters or her mother.
In this novel, many characters have psychological trauma within them because of the
discrimination they have faced in the society and within their family. It is very much obvious in
their action. Very few characters find out the solution for their trauma. Many characters
encounter psychological discrimination in the novel. They are Boo Radley (Arthur Radley),
Mayella Ewell, Dill, Mrs. Dubose and so on.
Boo Radley is living in a neighborhood to Atticus. He is confined within his house for
more than twenty five years. The reason behind this is simple because he does not want to. Boo
Radley had contact with the young boys from Cunningham in his young age. “Radley boy was in
his teens he became acquainted with some of the Cunningham from Old Sarum” (Harper Lee,
10). They have done all mischievous things youngsters do. The usual habits or enjoyment of
youngsters is portrayed through the attitude and behavior of Boo Radley, but others consider it as
a mean thing and they consider it as a kind of crime. To refer Cunningham, Lee uses “wrong
crowd” (11). Because of their mischievous activities they are caught by Mr.Conner and produced
in front of judge. Harper says,

39
Mr.Conner and locked him in the court-house out house. The town decided
something had to be done. The Judge decided to send the boys to the state
industrial school, where boys were sometimes sent for no other reason than to
provide them with food and decent shelter: it was no prison and it was no
disgrace. Mr.Radley thought it was. (11)
Radley consider it as crime and disgrace to his family. Then after that event one day Boo
Radley drives the scissors into his father's leg when Boo is cutting a paper and it creates a
problem to him. Lee uses the symbol of scissor and paper when she projects Boo Radley to
express his state of mind. He uses scissor to cut the paper. Here scissor symbolizes the power
and paper symbolises vulnerability. The scissor symbolises the suppressed aggression of Boo
Radley. In Psychoanalytic Essays on Power and Vulnerability, Halia Burnning, the editor says in
his editor note as,
Small children long go invented the simplest games that illustrates that I could
ever do with words alone. The game is called “scissors paper stone.” The essence
of the game is to win over the object by a quick, sure-handed destructive act, such
as scissors cutting paper. But this win is just a momentary one, as the next
interaction will destroy the scissor the moment it encounters a stone, which in the
next act will itself be destroyed, engulfed by paper. Therefore, the relativity of
power and vulnerability accompanies us from our earliest childhood. (XIX)
Boo Radley is considered as mad and they locked him up in the court-house basement.
He spent nearly twenty five years of his life confined within his house. He does not have any

40
contact with external world. Every other person in the Maycomb County hates Boo Radley
because of the prejudice and the rumour among the people. But the reality is totally different. It
creates a psychological trauma within him and he decides not to have any contact with the outer
world. But when Scout, Jem, and Dill tries to make him come out of his house, Boo Radley
responds in various ways, indirectly. It shows how much he needs human contact. Boo Radley
needs someone‟s attention. Because no one is ready to know who Boo Radley is. The attitude of
the children triggers happiness in Boo Radley. To show his love towards the children he leaves
gifts in the tree hole.
It is the curiosity of the children which gives hope for Boo Radley. Through this Harper
Lee projects the psychology of children. Naturally children are very curious about the restricted
things. If they are being restricted from one thing, they are more fascinated about that. That is
what happens in the case of Boo Radley. They hear rumour about Boo Radley all over the town.
They want to know whether it is true or not. They try to find out the reality. This psychological
conflict is portrayed here. Because of this fascination the children come to know about Boo
Radley later. In the end of the novel Lee portrays Boo Radley as a child. She says, “He almost
whispered it, in the voice of a child afraid of dark” (306). It is because of Boo Radley‟s lack of
exposure to the outer world. He becomes a grownup man and becomes old but then his mind still
remains the same as a child when he is confined in his house. It is not a physical restriction rather
a psychological one. And it is reflected in his denial for public relationship.
Another character who suffers from psychological discrimination is Mayella. Mayella
Ewell is almost like Boo Radley. She is brought up by her father. She has seven siblings. She
does not have any external contact with the community. She restricts herself within her family.
She does not remember her mother‟s death. She is not aware of friends. When Atticus asks her in

41
the trial about her friends she is totally puzzled and do not know what to say. “the witness
frowned as if puzzled. „Friends?‟” (Lee, 202). It shows clearly that she does not have any friends.
She does not have anyone to share any of her feelings and problems. She knows little about the
outer world. Her relationship with her siblings is not clearly discussed in the novel. Lee says
about her as,
When Atticus asked had she any friends, she seemed not to know what he meant,
then she thought he was making fun of her. She was as sad, I thought, as what
Jem called a mixed child: white people wouldn‟t have anything to do with her
because she lived among pigs. (212)
In most of her life Mayella is alone without any companion. She is attracted by Tom
Robinson. It is usual and natural that opposite sex attracts each other. But in her case, Tom
Robinson is the only outsider she has encountered in her life time, except her father. She is in the
need to fulfill her sexual desire as well. That is why she often called Robinson to do some work
in her house like splitting the chiffarobe. She kissed Tom Robinson and took sexual advantage of
him in her house. But in the trial there is some dilemma in her mind whether to support Tom
Robinson or her father, Bob Ewell. In psychology, Freud uses Oedipus complex to express the
mind or psyche of human being and their actions. It is a sexual attraction between mother and the
son. Between father and daughter, there is Electra complex which binds them. But Freud doesn't
use such term in his analysis. “In Neo-Freudian psychology, the Electra complex as proposed by
Carl Jung, is a girl's psychosexual competition with her mother for possession of her father”
(web). But in Mayella's case she does not have any rival for her father. It is the reflection of
Mayella's psychosexual development. Freud says in The Claims of Psychoanalysis to Scientific
Interest (1913), “the 'normal sexuality' of adults emerges from infantile sexuality by a series of

42
development, combinations, divisions and suppressions which are hardly ever achieved
perfectly” (YouTube). This suppressed sexual desire of Mayella Ewell came out and she
expressed it to Tom Robinson.
In the trial, Mayella accepts that she is molested by Tom Robinson. She is ready to lose
her virtue and chastity in the trial. She does not care for that. She is driven by her father's racial
prejudice. She gives more important to her race than her own virtue. Basically, women are more
concerned about their sexuality and they go to any extent to protect their sexuality. But in
Mayella's case, she is concerned more about her race and her father. She doesn't care about her
femininity. It raises a doubt that whether she is aware of such feminine qualities and moral things
or not. Many women try to keep their moral status in a safe position. But then, here Mayella puts
her morality in question. She is totally different from other women in the Maycomb County. Her
psyche is totally opposite to that of other feminist views which celebrates the sexuality of
woman. From her childhood she has been taught by her father that their race is more important
than any other thing in this world. In trial, Mayella has proved that she is more concerned about
her race and at the same time she wants to get rid of her own guilt that she has broken the code of
morality of white people by having a sexual contact with a black man.
Harper Lee, on the contrary, gives more importance to womanly qualities or being a
woman. Most of the time scout expresses her Tomboyish attitude and Alexandra tries to change
her. On one hand Lee emphasis on being a woman and on the other hand she gives importance to
race through Mayella Ewell. It clearly shows the conflict in the mind of Harper Lee. Rape is used
as a tool to attack the black community. White men use women's sexuality as a tool to bring
down the honour of Black community. Instead, they bring down their own honour by acting in
such a way. This is what really happened in the case of Bob Ewell. His honour is totally

43
demolished by Atticus in the trial. It distresses Bob Ewell. It is reflected is his action that he is
trying to attack Atticus children in the night.
In the novel, Harper Lee introduces two type of Scout to the reader. The one is full of
Innocence and another one is little matured. It shows the psychological growth within the
character Scout. Throughout the novel Scout experiences the entire happenings and at the same
time she narrates the story from her memory in a mature manner. In the beginning, Scout has
different understanding about Boo Radley and at the end of the novel she has different view
about him. It is because of her real experience which makes her conscious to believe what is true.
It puts Scout in the shoes of Boo Radley to understand his situation.
Lee expresses the psychology of school children through scout. Every children hate
school life and reading but then here scout loves to read with his father Atticus. Soon, she hates
that habit of reading because of her teacher. Scout‟s teacher Miss Caroline tells her not to learn
anything from her father. Miss Caroline thinks that she must be misguided. Instead of
appreciating the effort of scout in reading and writing in that age, she is scolding her not to learn
anything much than what is prescribed for her age. It shows the authoritative attitude of the
teacher and her mentality. She (scout) should not learn from anywhere, anything except from
her. If she learns anything more, that put Miss Caroline under distress. It shows every teacher
want to keep their student submissive to them. They restrict their growth beyond certain level.
Scout is not happy with her school life and that she expresses it to her father as well. It shows
that Harper Lee might have had some bitter experience in her school life. Harper Lee loves to
attend school only because of her English class.

44
In chapter four in To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee compares Jem with Boo. When
Jem, Scout and Dill play the game of Boo Radley, Lee mentions, “Jem, naturally, was Boo” (43).
The same is reflected in chapter eleven that Mrs. Dubose threatens Jem that she will send him to
reform school because of his activities. Mrs. Dubose says, “If you aren‟t sent to the reform
school before next week, my name‟s not Dubose!” (112). The impact of the life of Boo Radley is
reflected in every family in Maycomb County. If anyone does something wrong they have to
send to reform school is commonly prevailing in the minds of people. It shows their lack of
understanding of children. At the age of nine or ten, children do all sort of mischievous activities.
They should not be punished for all their wrong doing. Otherwise things will end up like in the
case of Boo Radley.
Dill Harris is another character in the novel undergoes psychological trauma as well as
physical trauma. Dill lives with his mother who married second time. The new father dislikes
Dill and put him in the basement and he has been bounded in chains and left to die. (154) Lee
use the same chain as a symbol to express the status of Boo Radley. “Jem figured that Mr Radley
kept him chained to the bed most of the time” (12). The chain restricts one‟s power and helps to
hold them in someplace. Chain represents the act of domination and subservience. Chain
symbolises both positivity and negativity. In positive connotation it symbolizes a tie or bonded
relationship, negatively, a burden which is put upon one‟s shoulder and he/she has to free
themselves from that restriction.
Mrs. Dubose is another person who undergoes psychological discrimination. She is a
morphine addict. To relieve herself from the pain she starts taking morphine and addicted to it.
“Mrs Dubose was a morphine addict” (Lee, 123). Like Boo Radley, Mrs Dubose restricts herself
from socializing with others. She has the problem of getting fits which has emerged out of her

45
addiction. Jem starts reading Ivanhoe to her. Dubose uses alarm clock in her room. The alarm
clock indicates the time period. The ringing of alarm indicates that Dubose is going unconscious.
The alarm clock is a symbol which tells the change of Dubose psyche from the state of conscious
to unconscious. She listens to Jem‟s reading just to keep herself conscious. After the death of
Dubose, Atticus says to Jem about her state of consciousness. “As the mountain air, said Atticus.
„She was conscious to the least, almost, conscious‟” (124). It shows Dubose‟s psychological
conflict between her conscious world and unconscious world.
Every character faces some sort of psychological discrimination in the novel. Some are
visible and some are not. It alienates them from the normal people and put them in distress.

47
CONCLUSION
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most read novels in America. It has attracted all kinds
of audience form children to adults. Though Lee has written only two novels, her debut novel
stands as a testimony for her profound skill of writing and storytelling. The novel is included in
Secondary school curriculum in America and it raises a constant debate that the novel propagates
profanity, sex scenes and immorality. The novel urges the readers to look back into the history of
America and the struggles of black people. The Emancipation Proclamation makes the blacks
freeman from slavery but then they are destined to suffer under the White Supremacy.
The novel touches upon the issues of racism, judicial practices in Alabama, class
discrimination, psychological discrimination, and morality through various characters in the
novel. The first part of the novel gives the feeling to the readers that they are reading the life of
children and their fascinated stories. It resembles a children literature in the beginning but in
course of reading it makes the readers to feel that it is more than a children‟s literature. The
second part of the novel deals with the trial of Tom Robinson. The trial brings out the idea of
racism in the novel. It is clearly portrayed in the novel by Lee.
Lee uses symbolism as a tool to convey the idea of racism. Through various symbols she
projects racism rather than expressing it directly. Of course the novel explicitly deals with the
issue of racism and other discriminations but the usage of symbols give more intensity to address
the issue to the readers. The symbolic events like killing of mad dog, making a snow man, the
symbol of mockingbird, and the red geranium flower in Mayella‟s house convey the idea of
racism and the action taken by the characters to evade racism.

48
The trial and death of Tom Robinson shows the cruelty of racism in American society.
The major character Atticus tries to save his children from the cruel disease of racism and also
shows his compassion towards black community that makes him to accept defending Robinson
in the trial. He is a father who teaches what he practices. He teaches Jem and Scout some moral
and ethical values that makes them understand the human condition in the case of Boo Radley in
the later part of the novel. Lee tries to convey this kind of moral lesson to all the children as well
as adults through her novel.
Along with racism, Lee discusses about class discrimination in the American society.
Class and racial discrimination go parallel in the novel. Lee brings the picture of the weaker
section of the society and their poor economic status. She describes that class division is
prevailing within the White community and it shows that there is no unity among them. Many
factors separate white people from their own community. The foremost is their poor economic
condition. Economy is used as a marker to segregate people. Lee differentiates the life style of
Whites and Blacks through their way of speaking, food habits and through the description of
their living status. It includes poor white trash as well.
Prejudice and stereotypes are the main root cause for the discrimination. Lee expresses
this prejudice and stereotypes by explaining through the gossips and rumors about Boo Radley,
Tom Robinson, and Dolphus Raymond.
The idea of prejudice and stereotype triggers people to act against people and leads to
misunderstanding. This misunderstanding grows and creates a void in human relationship. It acts
as a catalyst to promote discrimination among people. Prejudiced mind always creates problems
in the society. It not only affects the person who has prejudice but also the person in the other

49
side. It influences people very fast in a negative manner. Such influence in the novel is Miss
Stephanie Crawford. R.A. Dave in his essay calls her as, “Miss Stephanie Crawford, that English
channel of gossip” (41). There are very few characters in the novel who live without any
prejudices and they live with their own sanity.
The usage of language in the novel expresses the intensity of racism in America. The
words like Nigger lover, White trash shows how people are occupied with the racial disease. The
profanity of language in text makes parents to stop their children from reading this novel. Later
they understand the importance of this novel and till now it is celebrated. The person‟s action is
no more needed when such words have much power to offend someone easily whether the
person is Black or White.
The novel is narrated by young Scout. She is the resemblance of Lee in her childhood.
The novel has some autobiographical traits here and there in the portrayal of characters. But it is
not fully autobiographical in nature. It is the recollection of certain past memories and events.
The past of Harper Lee has a lot of influence in her novel and she tries to transfer that influence
to the future generation.
To Kill a Mockingbird expresses psychological discrimination which emerges from the
childhood experience of certain characters. The impact of Lee‟s childhood is very much
transparent in such characters. Lee uses certain symbols and actions to express the psychology of
certain characters. In the novel Mayella, Boo Radley and Dill faces some psychological trauma
and discrimination. The psyche of Boo Radley represents the child mentality.
Lee gives importance to mulattos who face rejection from both sides. It shows her
concern for the society. Like Jane Austen, Lee‟s writing revolves around her society and people

50
living in the society. She portrays White community in both negative and positive manner. It
shows that not all whites are racist. The division of folks into four strongly supports the idea of
class discrimination in the novel.
The novel is tragic in nature. The death of Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell gives the tragic
effect as well as arouse pity and compassion for Robinson. The novel achieves its aim or
spreading awareness about the cruelty of racism. It touches upon the difference between the child
life and adult life in the Maycomb County.
Harper Lee‟s treatment of race and racism in the novel paves way for a debate. Her usage
of words and language shows that the novel propagates racism. Certain issues in the novel made
readers to think and argue in this way when it is read from the surface level. The portrayal of
Atticus as a passive participant in the community‟s culture of racism strengthen the dilemma
among the readers, whether Atticus support racism or is against racism. Rather than this passive
participation, his active participation in the trial to save the life of Tom Robinson and his
treatment of other Black people and his moral teaching to his children shows his strong
opposition towards racism and racial attitude of people in Maycomb County.
Through many incidents Harper Lee convince the readers that the novel is against racism.
It opposes the idea of class discrimination as well. These incidents and characters prove that
there is discrimination prevailing in the American society where the novel is set in motion. Given
the turbulent nature of American race relations in the late 1950s and early 1960s, many people
see To Kill a Mockingbird as a courageous rebuke of the culture of racial discrimination that
dominated the South at the time. (web)

51
Comparing the days of Harper Lee and current situation in America, there is no much
difference. The current President of America bans travellers from six Muslim-majority countries
like Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and two other countries like North Korea and
Venezuela shows that the stereotype and prejudice still prevails in the minds of Americans. If it
is the case in America now then the status of African American in America is a big question
mark now.
Despite of many laws to protect black people they still struggle to come up in their life in
the American society.

52
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